Hotbloods 6: Allies

Soon enough, wriggling creatures emerged from the mossy undergrowth that lay nestled at the bottom of each crater. They moved slowly, their glowing bodies pulsating. Each of them was differently colored, and shaped like what I imagined a space slug would look like. However, they didn’t seem to be moving in any particular direction, their writhing forms weaving in and out of the mossy nests with a soft squelching sound.

Stone put his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, the deafening sound piercing the silence of Glossa’s surface. It had a startling effect on the nudus, who all turned around at once and started heading for Stone. It seemed they liked the vibrations rippling from his particular whistle. From within the crater, even more of the brightly colored space slugs inched out of their hiding places, pulsing toward the root of the sound, heading in our direction en masse. Honestly, I’d never seen anything more frightening or more disgusting. The whole thing looked like it had come straight out of a B-horror movie.

“We should sit on the lip of the crater, in a line,” Lauren suggested, sinking down to the ground and kicking her legs out over the lip of the hole. “Then hold your wrists out on your thighs, like this. Let the nudus come to you.”

I followed her instructions, though I was nervous, feeling like an owner waiting to be chosen by a dog. Glancing across at Angie, I could see she wasn’t particularly eager either, her face screwed up in a grimace of disgust as the space slugs got ever nearer. I could only imagine what they would feel like once they’d made their way up to our wrists.

“Do you think one will pick you?” I asked, turning to Navan.

He shook his head. “No nudus in their right mind would pick me.”

“Or me,” Bashrik agreed, though Ronad stayed surprisingly silent on the matter. I wondered if he thought himself pure enough to be chosen by one. Judging from the things he’d told me, I imagined he was the kind of coldblood who just might be pure enough of heart to earn a nudus.

Sure enough, the glowing slugs inched up the crater toward Bashrik and Navan, before veering away sharply, their pulsing bodies speeding up, as though they couldn’t wait to get away from the toxic influence of the coldblood contingent. It was almost comical to see the speed with which they hurried away, their squelches getting louder the faster they went, leaving a trail of fart noises in their wake.

“Well, that was rude,” Bashrik muttered. It looked like, secretly, he was a bit upset that not even one nudus had chosen him.

“Welcome to the black-heart club, coldblood compadres,” Alfa remarked, as the slugs veered away from him, too.

“You shouldn’t take it personally—it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. Just means you’ve done a few things these beasties don’t like,” Dio added, his impure lycan soul enticing zero nudus to choose him as a host. “Although, I probably shouldn’t have jilted that Twizigian babe. That might have been wrong of me.”

Alfa growled at his friend. “I told you not to do that. She could’ve stayed on board with us.”

“What can I say, Alf? I can’t be tied down.”

As the two members of Stone’s crew continued their banter, I kept on watching the slugs. They were slowly making their way toward me, though they stopped at Lauren first. Several nudus surged excitedly toward her and latched on to her immediately.

She giggled as one wrapped itself around her wrist. “It tickles!”

“How can you let them do that?” Angie complained, as a band of nudus headed in her direction. “Ew, gross, gross, gross!” She shrieked as they wriggled up her legs and wrapped themselves around her forearms, their pulsing bodies glowing happily with every piercing wail of disgust she gave.

“Look!” Ronad shouted excitedly, lifting his arms. The nudus seemed to adore him, as they swarmed him with their glowing affection, covering him wherever they could find an available spot. Evidently, he had the purest heart amongst us.

“You’re playing host to a parasite, Ronad. I wouldn’t act so giddy about it, if I were you,” Bashrik said dryly, though it appeared nothing could dampen Ronad’s spirits.

Angie flashed her boyfriend a knowing look. “Do I sense a hint of jealousy, my little Bashy-Boo?”

“I have asked you repeatedly not to call me that in public,” Bashrik muttered. “And no, I am not jealous. Why would I be jealous of some glowing little space slugs that suck the energy out of you, when I have you for that?”

Angie cackled, brandishing her own slugs at him. “You can say all the mean things you want. You’ve got yourself a pure-hearted woman over here!”

I kept waiting for the nudus to come to me, but they seemed to be distracted by the people on either side of me. Feeling self-conscious, I scooched closer to the edge of the crater, making it easier for them to get to me.

Meanwhile, Stone had picked up a few more nudus for his arms, acting surprisingly gentle toward them. He brushed his finger along the back of one of them, smiling as it bristled under his touch, the glow getting brighter for a moment. They really did seem to love him, their pulsing forms moving across his body like caterpillars on a leaf. It was a welcome opportunity to see the softer side of Stone. With him like this, I could almost understand how Lauren had warmed to him, forgiving him for everything he’d done to her. Besides, if the nudus were attracted to him, there had to be something good about him, deep down.

A short distance from Stone, Xiphio was also picking up a fair number of nudus. I’d expected him to, given the sweet manner he had about him. What I hadn’t anticipated, however, was the lengths to which the merevin’s competitiveness could stretch. Although he had collected a good number of nudus, he didn’t seem satisfied. Glancing back at Stone, I realized why: the ambaka had collected more than him.

“I bet you have resorted to cheating, Mr. Stone!” Xiphio called. “You do that whistle thing and it confuses them, I imagine.”

Stone shot him a look. “These nudus come to me ‘cause they know I’m good o’ heart. Ain’t my fault I’ve got more than ye—I must be a better bloke.”

“I refuse to accept that!” Xiphio cried, moving closer to the lip of the crater so a new swarm of nudus could come to him.

Seeing this, Stone did the same, the two of them desperate to outdo each other, regardless of the fact that Lauren wasn’t even watching; she was too engrossed by the movements of her own nudus. I had to laugh. The pair of them looked ridiculous, trying to coax the slugs onto their arms, just to impress a girl who wasn’t even paying attention.

Before I could count who’d won between the two of them, a purple nudus wriggled up toward me, moving across my legs and up to my arms, which lay flat against my thighs. It seemed to sniff me, bringing its glowing snout close to my skin.

Come on, little sluggy, pick me, I urged. I promise I won’t pull a face if you choose me.

For a moment, it looked like it was going to wrap itself around my wrist, but then it stopped, moving slowly away from me with an air of disappointment. I even thought I saw its light dim for a moment, because of what it had sensed in me. The thing was, I couldn’t blame it for not wanting to choose me. I understood why it had said no. I had Pandora’s blood on my hands; what else had I expected?

“Hey, I’ll gladly wrap myself around you, if it’ll make you feel better,” Navan said, leaning in to put his arm around my shoulders. “These slugs don’t know the first thing about good hearts. I know what’s in yours, and it’s better than anything in the universe.”

It was the nicest thing he’d said to me in days, and the sentiment took me by surprise, leaving me tongue-tied for a moment. “Same goes for you, mister,” I said, at last.

“I love you,” he whispered, kissing my cheek.

“I love you.” Who needed a space slug, anyway?